Watching television is an everyday activity in a large number of households, and provides for a source of entertainment from a range of program content such as sport and movies, as well as news and actuality programs (eg. documentaries and lifestyle). With the advent of Digital Television (DTV), the home television has become the main interface with the outside world, in that the Internet may be browsed using the television, on-line shopping may be done, and electronic messages (e-mail) may be received through the television.
Traditionally, a user/viewer sets a large number of “User Preferences” dictating to the DTV how content should be displayed. For example, this may include settings as to whether the user wishes to be notified when e-mail arrives. Furthermore, the user may wish for messages to be automatically displayed in a secondary window. However, such user preferences are not static and may be dependent upon various factors. Such factors may include for example the nature of the program that the user is watching when the e-mail came in, the priority of the message etc. This is undesirable, as the user is therefore required, when setting the “User Preferences” to predict the most likely scenario that may occur, or alternatively, make the most conservative selection.